X-Men: Days of Future Past, the upcoming sequel to X-Men: First Class will not be directed by Matthew Vaughn according to a report at Deadline.
Vaughn directed X-Men: First Class for Fox and exceeded picky fan expectations to turn the youthful version of the fabled Marvel franchise into another box office success. He was the number one choice to helm the sequel and begin shooting as soon as Jennifer Lawrence’s schedule cleared early next year upon completion of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Reasons for Vaughn’s exit remain unknown.
Though Vaughn will not be directing X-Men: Days of Future Past for Fox, he is expected to remain on the project as one of the film’s producers.
The kicker in this news is that Fox has reportedly set its sights on none other than Bryan Singer to step in and take over directorial duties for Vaughn. Singer wrote the X-Men: Days of Future Past treatment and is currently slated to produce. If he accepts, he would essentially be flip-flopping positions with Vaughn.
Singer launched the X-Men franchise at Fox with the original film and the high regarded sequel, X2: X-Men United. He bowed out of completing his X-Men trilogy to direct Superman Returns for Warner Bros. We all know how that turned out.
Vaughn turned down the opportunity to direct Kick-Ass 2: Balls To The Wall in order to helm X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now that Vaughn is out of the X-Men director’s seat, he’s expected to direct the film adaptation of Mark Millar’s Secret Service comic book.
Just a few weeks ago Fox lost another high profile sequel director when Rupert Wyatt stepped down from Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. The job eventually went to Matt Reeves of Cloverfield and Let Me In fame.
Expect Fox to move quickly on nailing down an X-Men: Days of Future Past director in the coming days. They cannot afford to wait too long as early pre-production work is either already underway or on the verge of commencing. The film already has a July 18, 2014 release date locked in.
